The Manly Arts
by Elisabell-angel enraged
Summary: Kanji overcomes his fears and decides to try something he's always wanted to.... Sewing. Oneshot


Title: The manly arts

Fandom: Persona 4

Characters/pairings: Kanji, Naoto, Implied KanjixNaoto, mentions of Rise,

Warnings: Spoilers if you haven't completed Naoto's dungeon

You are so beautiful, you know that don't you? You're perfect, absolute in every way. As long as you're there, I need nothing else.

"Um.."

Don't speak..

"Kanji-san?"

Just let me have this moment of revelation a little longer, would you?

"Kanji-san, why do you keep staring at the sewing machine like that?"

Kanji jumped, realizing that he'd been addressed by an upperclassman. He had tuned her out for as long as he could, and he was a bit worried about how this scene looked to her. Kanji Tatsumi, whom everyone assumed was a punk, staring at a sewing machine as though it were the perfect being. It had to make him look like some sort of freak.

"Senpai, uh... I was just..." He didn't get to finish that thought, because the upperclassman just laughed.

"It's hard to believe that you are here, Kanji-san."

"Uh... Well, I .... " That's right, it wasn't just working up the courage to come in here. Kanji realized that he probably needed a reason to be here. His pride was too strong to just admit that he wanted to sew. Men didn't do such girly things. "I was dared to come here." That seemed reasonable enough. Kanji was a man of his word, and men of their word would definetly follow through on a dare.

"Oh, I see." The girl simply nodded, "well.. Good luck with that Kanji-san." With that the girl left.

She probably thought he was weird, but the lie served its purpose. Surely it was a good enough explanation. The thought of her believing he was weird... That bothered him... but he needed to shake it off, for the real matter at hand... The sewing.

He approached the machine cautiously, as though it were an untamed animal.

It's ok, he told himself, you always wanted to do this right? Just go up to the machine and sew. Who cares what the club members think. You explained yourself, who cares?

Somehow, this wasn't working too well. He was still annoyed with the prospect of doing this in front of so many others... but he couldn't ask his mom to use her machine.

A few steps more and he was directly in front of the thing.

He heard the girls whispering behind him, but blocked them out.

This was nothing, he just needed to think of it as a battle. His fear of doing this was just a shadow he needed to defeat.

With that thought in mind, he forced his legs to bend. Sitting stalk-straight in his chair he cautiously started up the machine.

And then... His instincts kicked in.

He'd seen his mother do this thousands of times, it should be in his blood. He figured out the machine bit by bit, and soon he understood how to work it. Soon he was pressing on with more skill than half of the girls in the room. This time the girls didn't give him a confused look, instead they gave him looks of admiration.

He felt elated to know that he wasn't being looked down on for doing what he wanted. He wasn't being judged. The club members were simply working and enjoying the work of others.

***

"This looks different from the other things you have on display." Naoto curiously picked up a very girly dress that was rather pretty in her mind.

"Oh, you have a good eye. My son made that." The owner of the shop flashed a proud smile.

Examining the dress, Naoto could tell it was made by a novice. It wasn't exactly even, and some of the thread was visible where it wasn't suppossed to be. However it was made special by the fact that Kanji had made it. Kanji made this? The thought sounded foreign.

"Would you like that dress?" Obviously the woman felt a bit odd having Naoto stare at it like that. Maybe she thought Naoto was scrutinizing the worksmanship.

"Sorry... It's not really my style."

Naoto may not have bought the dress, but she always did think about buying it. She wanted to, if only for Kanji's sake. but... Somewhere... She wanted it for herself too. She wanted to have that girly feeling of pure attractiveness, but she wouldn't allow herself to.

A few days later, Rise bought the dress.

Kanji was dissapointed.

Naoto wouldn't say anything.


End file.
